Lord Saye and Sele
James Fiennes

54Childhood

James Fiennes was born in September 1395 in Herstmonceux, Sussex, the second son of Sir William Fiennes and Elizabeth Battisford. Being Second son, this meant his older brother, Roger, gained the lions share of the inheritance, when his father died in 1402. Roger was the person who started the building of the Herstmonceux Castle we know today.

Marriage

James did well for himself. He married twice, his first wife Joan died, and then he married Emmeline Crowmer. He had two children from his first wife Joan, Elizabeth and William. (William Crowmer married his daughter and James was regarded as his father in law, but looking onto the Crowmer family, it seems that he was possibly the younger brother of Emmeline, so they could be brother in laws too!)

Rise in Stature

James, like most nobles, had campaigned in France. In 1430 he became the Sheriff of Kent, and accompanied Henry VI to France. James was an ardent supported of the Duke of Suffolk and his most important ally of his in the South East. As Suffolk rose in importance then Suffolk promoted his supporters too.

In 1447, he became the Lord Chamberlain and was made Lord Saye and Sele. He was even given temporary control of the Tower of London and was made Constable of Dover Castle. In 1449 he became the Lord Treasurer.

HeverFinance

James was not short of a bob or two, in 1450 he was receiving and annual sum of £302 through various means. He was even receiving £40 retainer from the Duke of York (was he hedging his bets?). James had lots of wealth now, he even owned Hever Castle (which was to be come more important with the Boleyn family in the Tudor dynasty), the country was in dire need for funds. Part of the reason the soldiers killed Bishop Adam Moleyns (see clergy) was because the soldiers where late in being paid. In 1449 the Duke of Suffolk had lent the king £2,773 and James had lent £1,400, which shows how affluent he was.

The Avarice

So James was “Mr Shiny Pants,” so why was he on the list of grievances of the commons? The answer is simple, he was not adverse to a bit of extortion and doing a few dodgy land deals, with menaces! After the Jack Cade Rebellion, the King ordered a Commission of “Oyer and Terminer” to show justice being done. This commission was twofold, one to punish the rebels and the other to address the commons complaints. Most complaints regarded James or his subordinates. Some examples of James handiwork are listed below.

  • James Fiennes and Stephen Slegge, violently evicted Humphrey Evias from his land (150 acres of pasture and 100 acres of marshland) near Aylesford in 1447.
  • James and Stephen took over land from the deceased John Arundel and increased the rent of the tenants. The tenants said they had a grant of indenture which meant they should only pay 4 pence an acre a year, James put it up 50% to 6 pence. The tenants named were John Newman, Peter Smyth, William Smyth, Laurence Paule and William Poule, John Ivot, Roger Newman, John Carter, John Naverton. Peter Smyth complained that he had to and extra 4 pence.
  • SheriffEven James wife got in on the act – James, Stephen and Emmeline Fiennes joined together to oppress Richard Peckham in 1448. The made him swap valuable land in Seal (80 acres of land, 16 acres of meadow and 30 acres of wood), for less valuable land the Fiennes had (40 acres of land, 14 acres of meadow and 12 acres of wood). Failure to agree to the deal he was threatened with imprisonment, drawing and hanging. He agreed to the terms under duress.

These are some of the cases the commons felt brave enough to raise.

I don’t make judgements upon James, he was a product of his time. There’s an old adage, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely!”